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Edition 70 (1999) Winner
Alessandro Portelli
アレッサンドロ・ポルテッリ
Alessandro Portelli
Profile
- Gender
- Male
- Born
- 1942-07-08 （Rome, Italy）
- Nationality
- Italian
- Languages
- Italian, English
- Residence History
- Rome, Italy → Terni, Italy
Career
- Occupations
- Scholar of American literature and culture, Oral historian, Writer, Musicologist, Professor of Anglo-American literature
- Active Years
- 1962-2024
- Affiliations
- University of Rome La Sapienza, University of Siena, Italian National Research Council, Circolo Gianni Bosio
- Memberships
- Circolo Gianni Bosio
Education
| Institution | Faculty | Department | Degree | Period | Country |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| University of Rome La Sapienza | — | Law | 法学学位 | — | Italy |
| University of Rome La Sapienza | — | English | 英語学位 | — | Italy |
University of Rome La Sapienza
Law
Degree:
法学学位
Year of Graduation:
1966
Country:
Italy
University of Rome La Sapienza
English
Degree:
英語学位
Year of Graduation:
1972
Country:
Italy
Awards
| Year | Award | Work | Category | Organization | Result |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000 | Viareggio Prize | The Order Has Been Carried Out | — | — | winner |
| 2011 | W. D. Weatherford Award | They Say in Harlan County | — | Appalachian Studies Association | winner |
| 2015 | Dan David Prize | — | Retrieving the Past: Historians and their Sources | Dan David Prize | winner |
Viareggio Prize
2000
Work:
The Order Has Been Carried Out
Result:
winner
W. D. Weatherford Award
2011
Work:
They Say in Harlan County
Organization:
Appalachian Studies Association
Result:
winner
Dan David Prize
2015
Category:
Retrieving the Past: Historians and their Sources
Organization:
Dan David Prize
Result:
winner
Awards & Nominations
Works
Major Works
They Say in Harlan County: An Oral History
2010 Oral historyPortelli tells the story of the coal mining community of Harlan County, Kentucky, between 1964 and 2009.
Labor conflictsMemoryCommunity
The Order Has Been Carried Out: History, Memory and Meaning of a Nazi Massacre in Rome
1999 Oral historyOn the 1944 Fosse Ardeatine massacre by Nazis in Rome.
MassacrePolitics of memoryResistance
The Death of Luigi Trastulli and Other Stories: Form and Meaning in Oral History
1991 Oral historyInterprets the meaning of differing press and oral accounts of events.
NarrativeSubjectivityHistorical accuracy
Style & Themes
- Literary Style
- Literary approach to narrativeEmphasis on meaning of stories and nature of memoryArt of dialogue
- Recurring Motifs
- Workers' strugglesIndustrial conflictsFolklore and people's culture
Legacy
Portelli's work has transformed oral history from a stepchild of history into a literary genre, focusing on themes and structures of stories rather than factual accuracy.
Quotes
-
I brought a literary approach to narrative… I was interested in narratives that were not factually true because it's one of the ways through which you can get at the meaning and the subjectivity as well as the facts of what actually happened.
Source: Crossing Cultures: An Interview with Alessandro Portelli, Oral History Review (2001)
Trivia
- Founded the Circolo Gianni Bosio in 1972.
- Contributor to il manifesto since 1971.
- Visiting professor at Princeton University in 2014–15.